a LONG day

Dec 27, 2018

Today we did the last driving day home for Thanksgiving in reverse. Then it took about 9+ hours; today it took more like 12. It rained more or less more or less the entire day. We were glad it wasn't snow. That would have made us stay home. When it snows where we live, the road crews know what to do about it. A few hours after the final flake and the roads are good to go. Down here a paralysis sets in when they get an inch or two. This is not hyperbole; we've experienced it. While the rain was never hard, it caused a fender bender or two. Between those, some construction, and those mysterious traffic stand-stills that happen for no apparent reason, we got to Nashville two hours later than we planned , which had us there during rush hour. While it's a small city, it has caused delays every time we passed through and today was the worst yet. It gets dark early these days and after the sun set, the rain got harder. We go through some mountain just north of here. The big trucks slow to a near stand still and the curves in the road are hard to see. Nevertheless our intrepid driver with a little help from the wife got us here for a 10pm dinner. We haven't eaten that late since we left Spain. On a more positive note, we stayed at the same hotel we stayed at in November for $35 less for no apparent reason. And the price of gas is at least $.30/gallon lower than when we headed north a month ago.